Product Liability Litigation
A court case involving product liability litigation includes the plaintiff(s), those who were supposedly injured, and the defendant(s), those who are allegedly responsible for the injury. Each side may come to court armed with a team of attorneys who are prepared to sway a jury to rule in their favor. During the court hearings, experts for the injured party will testify how the particular item in question caused harm and experts for the other side will provide testimony on why the defendants are not responsible for the injury. Once both sides have presented evidence to support their claims, the jury will deliberate and make a decision. If the jurors believe that the plaintiff was harmed by the item in question, then the defendant is liable for the plaintiff's damages. The jurors may recommend a monetary award for damages and perhaps even a punitive monetary award if they believe the defendant to have been especially negligent or indifferent. Because of the large monetary awards that jurors have sometimes given to plaintiffs, the field of product liability litigation can prove to be quite lucrative to attorneys at both the plaintiff's and the defendant's tables.
Some ambitious trial attorneys have become quite wealthy by pursuing product liability litigation cases on behalf of injured clients. The routine practice is for the legal firm representing the plaintiff to receive a hefty percentage of the monetary award returned by the jury. This gives the legal firm an incentive to pursue cases on behalf of people who have been legitimately injured because of a company's negligence, but who do not have the financial means to pay high legal fees. In some instances, when a large number of people have been affected by a particular defective product or negligent business practice, the attorneys are able to bring a class action lawsuit against a company for wrong-doing. The class action lawsuit is filed, as one single case, on behalf of all those who were supposedly injured by the company. Many people have received notices of class action lawsuits being filed on their behalf when they had no idea that a company had "injured" them. These notices usually give instructions on how to file a separate suit or to remove themselves from the class action suit. When the case is over, the class action defendants may receive some token remuneration of little actual value. While there is a legitimate need for truly injured individuals to receive some kind of compensation through product liability litigation, these class action suits too often trivialize the justice system while only enriching the attorneys. The prophet Isaiah recounts the Lord's words: "When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? . . . Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:12;17).
On the other side are legal experts who counsel businesses on product liability litigation avoidance and crisis management. These firms work with clients to take a proactive approach to liability prevention. The services may even extend to research conducted during pre-merger or acquisition negotiations to ensure that the other company, the one merging or being acquired, is not at undue risk of future litigation. Manufacturing clients may be advised on documentation policies and procedures that set a company standard for the organizing, retrieval, retention, disposal, and archiving of company correspondence and memos, manuals, and other relevant paperwork. The proactive approach may also include the establishment of high quality standard controls and product safety programs. The quality controls may ensure that a manufacturing malfunction keeps defective products from leaving the factory. The safety programs can be provided as evidence in a lawsuit that the manufacturer was taking reasonable steps to ensure that defective products were not sold to consumers. Additionally, any government regulations concerning the business should be carefully adhered to and the company's compliance to those regulations should be strictly documented. These compliance records may also be used as evidence in a product liability litigation case against the manufacturer in court proceedings.
Product liability experts issue make a distinction between manufacturing defects and design defects. A manufacturing defect occurs when there is some type of malfunction in the manufacturing process that results in a defective product. If this product causes an injury to a consumer, the manufacturer can be held responsible. Additionally, if the manufacturer uses substandard materials in the manufacturing process and the item injures a consumer, the manufacturer could be held liable. For example, if spoiled ingredients are used in the manufacturing of a particular food item, causing the people who eat that food to get violently sick, then these victims may have a product liability litigation case against the food company and against the supplier of the spoiled ingredients. A design defect occurs when there is no malfunction in the manufacturing process, but the item itself still causes injury because of the way it was designed. For example, a vehicle may be build according to design specifications and yet operate improperly because of some defect in the design itself. When car manufacturers learn from consumers about ongoing problems, they often issue recalls to buyers of the affected make and model so that the problem can be repaired at no expense to the buyer. By issuing the voluntary recall, the car company takes a proactive approach and avoids costly litigation. Overall, it may be said that product liability litigation, or the fear of litigation, has improved the safety of products, compensated the injured, and held negligent companies responsible. But frivolous lawsuits, such as large class action suits that don't really benefit anyone, unnecessarily increase the costs of goods and services.
Some ambitious trial attorneys have become quite wealthy by pursuing product liability litigation cases on behalf of injured clients. The routine practice is for the legal firm representing the plaintiff to receive a hefty percentage of the monetary award returned by the jury. This gives the legal firm an incentive to pursue cases on behalf of people who have been legitimately injured because of a company's negligence, but who do not have the financial means to pay high legal fees. In some instances, when a large number of people have been affected by a particular defective product or negligent business practice, the attorneys are able to bring a class action lawsuit against a company for wrong-doing. The class action lawsuit is filed, as one single case, on behalf of all those who were supposedly injured by the company. Many people have received notices of class action lawsuits being filed on their behalf when they had no idea that a company had "injured" them. These notices usually give instructions on how to file a separate suit or to remove themselves from the class action suit. When the case is over, the class action defendants may receive some token remuneration of little actual value. While there is a legitimate need for truly injured individuals to receive some kind of compensation through product liability litigation, these class action suits too often trivialize the justice system while only enriching the attorneys. The prophet Isaiah recounts the Lord's words: "When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? . . . Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow" (Isaiah 1:12;17).
On the other side are legal experts who counsel businesses on product liability litigation avoidance and crisis management. These firms work with clients to take a proactive approach to liability prevention. The services may even extend to research conducted during pre-merger or acquisition negotiations to ensure that the other company, the one merging or being acquired, is not at undue risk of future litigation. Manufacturing clients may be advised on documentation policies and procedures that set a company standard for the organizing, retrieval, retention, disposal, and archiving of company correspondence and memos, manuals, and other relevant paperwork. The proactive approach may also include the establishment of high quality standard controls and product safety programs. The quality controls may ensure that a manufacturing malfunction keeps defective products from leaving the factory. The safety programs can be provided as evidence in a lawsuit that the manufacturer was taking reasonable steps to ensure that defective products were not sold to consumers. Additionally, any government regulations concerning the business should be carefully adhered to and the company's compliance to those regulations should be strictly documented. These compliance records may also be used as evidence in a product liability litigation case against the manufacturer in court proceedings.
Product liability experts issue make a distinction between manufacturing defects and design defects. A manufacturing defect occurs when there is some type of malfunction in the manufacturing process that results in a defective product. If this product causes an injury to a consumer, the manufacturer can be held responsible. Additionally, if the manufacturer uses substandard materials in the manufacturing process and the item injures a consumer, the manufacturer could be held liable. For example, if spoiled ingredients are used in the manufacturing of a particular food item, causing the people who eat that food to get violently sick, then these victims may have a product liability litigation case against the food company and against the supplier of the spoiled ingredients. A design defect occurs when there is no malfunction in the manufacturing process, but the item itself still causes injury because of the way it was designed. For example, a vehicle may be build according to design specifications and yet operate improperly because of some defect in the design itself. When car manufacturers learn from consumers about ongoing problems, they often issue recalls to buyers of the affected make and model so that the problem can be repaired at no expense to the buyer. By issuing the voluntary recall, the car company takes a proactive approach and avoids costly litigation. Overall, it may be said that product liability litigation, or the fear of litigation, has improved the safety of products, compensated the injured, and held negligent companies responsible. But frivolous lawsuits, such as large class action suits that don't really benefit anyone, unnecessarily increase the costs of goods and services.
Product Liability Litigation
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